The whiskey wash logo
The World's Most-Visited
Whiskey Website
The World's Most-Visited
Whiskey Website

Trending Stories

Search
American

Whiskey Review: Westland Garryana 2017

We review Westland Distillery's 2017 Garryana, an annual release partially aged in casks made from Quercus garryana, an oak species native to the West Coast.

OVERALL RATING

8
  • Margarett Waterbury is a whiskey enthusiast and industry expert.
Like Conversation

Tasting Notes

About:

Appearance:
Light apricot gold
Nose:
The first impression is of a rich nuttiness—toasted walnuts and hazelnuts—as well as a pleasant, powdery sweetness. Further nosing reveals some deeper, darker aromas like espresso, dried chili, and prune.
Palate:
Chocolate chip banana bread leads off—seemingly a signature note for Westland— topped with lashings of sweet vanilla cream. Yet any pretensions towards pastry are quickly usurped by a firm wave of oak, ushering in a compressed mid-palate that takes a few tastings to loosen. It’s worth the time invested, though, revealing a lovely interplay of black pepper, cinnamon, and clove with lots of roasty malt, baker’s chocolate, and molasses. In the finish, a ghostly sweetness flirts with a curious metallic flavor that almost reads as sanguine.
Finish:
Comments:
Spicy, dark, and complex, this is a fascinating whiskey, with a very distinctive oak profile. Many people say Oregon oak has a particularly intense expression of tannin, and that’s definitely noticeable here, although Westland’s light hand with the Garry oak goes a long way towards helping that tannin express itself in an interesting and delicious way, rather than a mouth full of cotton balls. Very enjoyable, and a must for cooperage nerds.

Editor’s Note: This whiskey was either bought as a sample by The Whiskey Wash or provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. Per our editorial policies, this in no way influenced the outcome of this review.

Margarett Waterbury

Margarett Waterbury is the author of "Scotch: A Complete Introduction to Scotland's Whiskies" and a full-time freelance writer and editor specializing in the beverage industry. Her work has graced the pages of numerous publications, including Whisky Advocate, Food and Wine, Spirited Magazine, Artisan Spirit, Edible Seattle, Sip Northwest, Civil Eats, Travel Oregon, and many others. She also boasts editorial experience as the former managing editor of Edible Portland and as a co-founder and former managing editor of The Whiskey Wash. In recognition of her talent, Margarett received the Alan Lodge Young Drinks Writer of the Year award in 2017 and was awarded fellowships for the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers in 2017 and 2019.

All Posts

Latest On The Whiskey Wash

The whiskey wash logo